Company that owns Highbrow.com paid about $20,000 for the domain name.
The owner of an online publication at HighbrowMagazine.com has threatened the owners of Highbrow.com, demanding that they turn the domain name over to her.
Highbrow.com’s owner has filed a lawsuit in federal district court seeking declaratory judgment that their use of the domain name does not infringe HighbrowMagazine.com’s owners.
HighbrowMagazine.com describes itself as “a liberal, general-interest magazine covering arts/entertainment, politics, media, food, and travel”.
Highbrow.com is beauty blog launched last year. Its owners, Highbrow, LLC, paid about $20,000 to acquire the domain name.
In December last year, Highbrow Magazine, LLC sent a cease & desist letter to Highbrow, LLC. It demanded that Highbrow, LLC stop using the name and transfer the domain name. The cease & desist letter, the first of three, was sent through a company called The Trademark Company.
Now Highbrow, LLC is asking a U.S. District Court in Oregon for declaratory judgment and to cancel HighBrow Magazine’s trademarks.
Highbrow Magazine was founded in 2011, and has registered trademarks. The beauty blog was launched last year. They may get the declaratory judgement, but I doubt any judge would would cancel the magazine’s trademarks. There’s room for both entities in the world.
They also claim they paid $850 to purchase rights to the Instagram handle. If you look at the first IG post [instagr.am/p/8zOqYPOtRM], it dates about 24 weeks ago. Leaving the floor for others to comment.
Beautiful generic at stake!
The Complainant’s rights are restricted to the mark: HIGHBROW MAGAZINE.
The Highbrow.com owners are protecting their investment; the declaratory judgement should suffice. If it went to a UDRP things could get murky.
There are other registered trademarks for HIGHBROW for educational videos for kids, unrelated to the parties involved in this case.
Just a question, what was the former owners of highbrow.com use just after Highbrow Magazines TM?
The answer could make things even more interesting…
Good one 😀 lowbrow.
Very nice, you should write 😉